Beautiful Monsters
by VanillaVampire95
Summary: Luca is left wounded from the car crash, when she goes back to school she finds two new boys have joined and as love blossoms she realises that monsters are real and live among us. The question is is love what you live for or what puts you in danger?
1. Chapter 1

Beautiful Monsters Novel

Chapter One

It was Friday night film night and me and Erin stumbled through the door of the cinema, out into the cold air on the street. Darkness had consumed the town while we were watching the film and the gritty texture of the night made the street look eerie. It was a small cinema, only two screens showing films that had come out 3 weeks ago in Sheffield, our neighbouring city. It sat on Regent Road which stretched from the middle of the city centre to the bus station a mile away. We bus station glittered at the end of the street, the lights from it casting a beacon to those in the town at night. As it was a Friday, there were people out on the town (as there always were on mine and Erin's Friday night film night) men with beer bellies, staggering from pub to pub, their girlfriends stumbling after them in their shorts skirts and high heels. They made a lot of noise as the shouted and balled and chanted football songs at the top of their lungs but they were pretty harmless and a lot of fun to watch.

Erin dragged me in to the side of the building as a man on a motorized wheelchair went past, glugging a bottle of Whiskey. Her big green eyes met mine and we burst out laughing, it didn't help that she kept pulling funny faces and imitating the people walking past. I laughed until my ribs hurt and when I could actually breathe again, I pulled out my phone and called my dad. He usually picked us up if we came out this late, he didn't want us catching the buses on our own. He answered on the first ring.

"Hello"

"Hey dad. It's me." _And me._ Erin shouted and giggled in the background, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm two minutes away. Mind waiting?"

"Nope. See you in a few." I hung up and looked at Erin, a fake annoyed look on my face. She was so pretty, with caramel coloured waves that cascaded down past her shoulders to her waist and her big green eyes that glittered from the light cast by the street lamp we were under. She hopped from foot to foot.

"Tell your dad to stop driving like a biddy and get here quick so I can warm up"

"Yeah, cause that'll go down well. You know he doesn't drive like a biddy." Her eyes glittered at the memory. When my dad was getting rid of his old car, scrapping it, he took us both up into the woods and did some off-roading in it and then let us have a drive. Erin drove way too fast and I didn't know my left from my right and nearly banged into a tree, but hey, it was our first try.

"Do you think he'll let me drive back?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her pretty little face.

"You shouldn't smile like that Erin. You look like a monkey."

Her eyes widened and her face fell. She put her hand to her chest in fake surprise, like I'd caused her to have a heart attack.

"How very dare you?" she mocked, on hand on her hip, her face frozen.

"I very dare." I winked at her and a smile teased the edge of her lips.

"I am so kicking you out of the bed tonight. Your gonna wish you never said that when you wake up eating rug" An old man that was walking past nearly keeled over and when she realised what he thought she bent double laughing, but it only lasted a second, then the walked up to me and put her hand in mine.

"You have a problem with our sex life?" she asked, her eyebrows rising. Needless to say he just coughed loudly and walked away.

When he got out of earshot, we both started laughing again.

"He thought we were lesbians, you moron."

"So what? And what is this we? You're the rug muncher." She laughed and skipped away, thinking I wasn't chasing her because I knew I'd never catch her but I'd seen my dad's car. He pulled up at the side of me and I jumped in, her eyes widening as she realised then her running like an idiot to jump in the back seat.

"You took your time" she chirped at my dad as I looked round to see her sprawled over the back seat. We waited until she'd buckled up and shut the door before we set off home. It was warm in the car and it smelt like my dad's aftershave. Erin was singing along to _Katy Perry's California Girls_ that had come on the radio, while my dad asked me questions about the film. After I'd summarised it to him, Erin started to sing louder and louder, I was slightly jealous of her looks but I was not however jealous of her singing voice, or her dancing for that matter. Yet I was about as good as dancing and singing as her so I joined in until _LMFAO- Party Rock Anthem_ came on and then we began to wave our arms about like idiots, our matching charm bracelets chinging on our wrists.

We'd bought them year ago, me, Erin and Maxxie on a shopping trip in Sheffield. They had each had a charm with a heart that was split three ways but now they were loaded with charms that we'd bought each other for birthdays and Christmas's. My favourite was a carousel, which they'd both bought me online from Hong Kong. It was silver and delicate and it used a watch battery to make it work. The horses went round on their sticks, just like a real carousel. It sort of reminded me of magic.

We were nearing home and on the parkway when I felt the jolt. The car jolted and the sounds of crunching metal filled my ears. The jolt had knocked my sense of balance and I didn't know which way the car was going but I was pretty sure we were spinning. I looked toward my dad for a sort of comfort but I found no safety in his face, which was contorted, his brown eyes wide in fear as the car began to tip. Suddenly the roof buckled, the windows and windscreen shattered and glass flew into my face. The seat belt was cutting into my shoulder and hips and my body was being thrown and battered as the car rolled and rolled and rolled, the roof smashing to only an inch above my head. I felt a sharp pain at the side of my head and instantly felt the warm rush of blood. Colourful spots interrupted the chaos of my vision and my world went black.

I woke up upside down. The seatbelt had cut off the circulation to my arm making it numb. Blood ran down my hair and onto the broken roof, where both pooled among the shattered glass. I looked round at my dad; he lay on the roof, wounds on his head and a nasty cut on his leg, out of which blood was trickling down his leg and dying his jeans a deep red colour. I tried looking round at Erin but I couldn't as when I tried I got a shooting pain down my back. My hand went to the seatbelt holder, the only thing that was keeping me from falling onto the broken glass, and with one large push I clicked it open, bracing myself for the fall. I used my elbows to push myself away from the seat and so I fell onto my knees rather than my neck. It didn't work out exactly as planned as when my knees hit the floor, the impact caused me to collapse, my ribs banging on my bent knees and my forehead hitting the floor. I sucked air into my lungs and calmed myself before I looked around.

Erin was still held in place by her seat belt, but her head hung down toward the roof and one arm bent at an impossible angle and was caught in the seatbelt. Her phone was still in the hand of her other arm although her grip on it was loose now she was unconscious. I scrambled into the back and grabbed it, her skin was clammy and a bit cool when my fingers brushed it so I took her hand in mine and squeezed, spending a second to send out a silent prayer to keep them well. The phone was shattered and no good. I didn't have time to look for mine or my dad's phone, not at the rate he was bleeding. I didn't know exactly how long it would be till he bled to death but I knew it wouldn't be long. Headlights were silently going past on the road at the top of the steep slope and that's when the idea hit me.

I crawled out of the car and ran to the bottom of the hill, where I threw myself onto the hard ground and dug my fingers into the cold earth. I used my legs to push myself up the steep slope and grabbed on to anything that could help me up. Thorns and scrubs clawed at my clothes and skin, as if trying to hold me back and stop my progression to save my dad and best friend. A couple of times I lost my footing and slipped a few feet back down the slope but after just a few minutes I reached the top. As I stood up I realised just how far I had climbed and how much it had affected me. My hands and arms were filthy, and deep scratches were all over my arms, face and belly. A pain seared across my waist and my hips. The muscles in my legs felt like they were on fire and my whole body felt weak and wobbly.

A car was coming and I waved my arms to catch the attention of the driver, but the car didn't slow. I walked into the middle of the lane and stood strong. It was too late to turn back. I was going to save my father and best friend, even if it bloody killed me. The car swerved and came to a stand still to the left of me. A chill went through me as I realised, I could have been killed. I heard the door being opened and a large sigh as a man heaved himself out of the car. I heard footsteps as he came up behind me muttering, then he spoke to me.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you have a death…" he stopped as he dug his hands into my shoulders and began to turn me around. His eyes widened and the colour fell from his face, although I'm not surprised I must have looked a mess.

"What happened?" he asked, genuine concern on his face. He was tall, the same height as me, with blonde curly hair that fell awkwardly into his eyes. He was about the same age as my dad, with wrinkles appearing around his eyes when he frowned and shook me for not answering him.

"Tell me what happened" he said, his tone firm but his eyes pleading, he was scared.

So I told him, about the crash and where my father and Erin were. It only took about 30 seconds as the words came tumbling out of my mouth but he understood them, even if I didn't myself and dragged me back to his car. He sat me carefully in the driver's seat, grabbed his phone and leaving the door open, phoned an ambulance.

I didn't hear exactly what he said and only really listened when he asked me a question. In minutes the flashing beacons of the ambulance came round the corner, the sight of it warmed my cold body, and for the first time since I'd woken up in the car wreck, I had hope. I drifted in and out of consciousness then, only responding to peoples questions. A member of the ambulance team came to check me over and I'd gotten off pretty easy. The pain around my waist came from 2 broken ribs and the welts caused by the seat belt on my shoulder and hips wasn't as bad as it looked apparently, I had a busted lip, a black eye and a small wound on my head. I sat in the man's car, having a woman with kind eyes probe my body for injury, when I began to drift off. I had done it, I had got the ambulance, I had saved Erin and my dad. My eyes were heavy and pretty soon, I had fallen into unconsciousness and fell into the black abyss of dreams.

I woke up with crinkly hospital paper stuck to my clammy skin. My eyes took a second to adjust to the brightness of the hospital room and I had to rub them hard. I winced in pain as my finger caught my right eye. I sat up to look around. I caught sight of my reflection in the window and I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped my lips. My face was white except from the splashes of colour that blossomed from my swollen eye and lip. My long black hair was matted and messy from the wound on my head. Blood had seeped through the scratchy fabric of the blue patterned hospital gown from the welt on my shoulder.

and was crusted around the scratches on my hands and arms. I could feel my hips and ribs were bruised without even looking, not like I could look. My eyes were just drawn to my face, which was black and blue and looked almost swallowed by the mass of hair that frizzed around it and stuck to the dry sweat on my forehead.

I flinched as a hand gently touched me on the arm. The flinching hurt my ribs so I was wincing when I turned to see my mum. Her eyes were red and swollen with crying and her makeup had run down her face in streams. She was shaking and turning a small objects over in her hands and for a second I was trying to work out what it was but her voice broke my train of thought.

"How you feeling, pigeon?" her voice was strained and for a second what she had said confused me. Pigeon was my fathers name for me, my mum always called me sweetheart.

"I'm okay, I guess. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting until you woke up, sweetheart. I was worried about you."

"Shouldn't you be with dad." The question fell out of my mouth before I could stop it, which I wish I had done after I had seen my mothers face fall. She looked down at her hands and sniffed loudly, and for just a second, I got a glimpse of what was in her hands. It was my father's wedding ring!

My heart stopped beating for a second, and then it started again, making up for the lost beats by pounding faster and harder in my chest like it was trying to escape. Grief overtook me and I had to move, to run, and to pretend like this was all a bad dream. I swung my legs out of bed and as soon as my sore, bare feet touched the cold floor, I ran. I heard my mum shouting after me but I couldn't stop. The already knackered muscles in me burned with the exercise and within a minute my breath was rasping out in rags, each breath I was taking that my father was not ripping me apart.

Suddenly my whole body went numb, I saw myself falling to the floor and heard the sickening thud as I landed but I didn't feel it. I wished that I could be like this forever, numb, denying it had happened, pretending that my life wont change but as soon as my feverish forehead touched the cold floor, I was brought back. The pain in my hip from the fall was fading slightly, but I wasn't thankful, I wanted pain, I wanted to be in so much physical pain, that I didn't recognize the grief gnawing at my insides, tearing my slowly apart. I wanted anything other than the echoes of disappointment and rage that were building up inside me, just waiting for the crescendo. I wanted death. I deserved death; I hadn't been able to save my dad. As the blackness that I wished was death began to take me, I wondered about Erin, maybe I had saved someone after all. The lift a few feet away opened and out wheeled a cart with a white bag on top. The two staff didn't notice me; the one pushing the trolley just stared ahead as if trying to not look at the body and the other grasping a bag of the persons belongings in her hand. Another life gone. I sent a prayer to the family of this person, as I knew what they were going through. The bag clinked and I cast my eye over it for a second but couldn't take my eyes away when I recognized one of the belongings. It was slim and delicate, the chain strong and still in one piece despite the trauma it had gone through. The charms jingled together in the bag but one stood out. It was a heart. Not all of a heart but part of it, a zigzag line showing where it was once placed with the other two of the set to make a full heart, a raw zigzag line that represented the person that would never be there to make the heart full again. Blackness teased the edge of my vision as they turned a corner and as I lost sight of the body and the charm bracelet of my best friend, something broke within me and I sunk into the darkness as if the floor had swallowed me whole.


	2. Chapter 2

Beautiful Monsters Novel

Chapter Two

I woke up screaming. Clutching the sides of my mattress, I shot upright, tears streaming down my clammy face. It was like one of those dreams where you fall and wake up just before you hit the ground, but your body still feels like its falling. That's what losing my dad felt like, falling into a hole, where I would never see him again. I had this dream so often lately, almost every night since the accident, but it wasn't really a dream, it was a memory. That was what was hardest about it because for one second when I woke up, I forgot about the accident and the dream was just that, a dream. But then it hit me and tore me limb from limb, that it had happened, that my dad and my best friend were dead, that my life would never be the same again.

The cold breeze from my open window caressed my hot skin and caused the net blinds to billow, moving and swaying with the rhythm of the wind. My head pounded and I couldn't get my breathing to calm down, this is what it was like every night; me fighting with the dream and the need to sleep. I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them up to my chest, resting my chin on my knees. It had been nearly three months since the accident and it hadn't gotten any better. I still had moments where I couldn't convince myself that they were gone.

Even at the funerals, I still didn't understand, I had tried my best to save them but it wasn't enough. It didn't help that I was kicked out of Erin's funeral. Her parents blamed me for her death, everyone knew it but we were all shocked when they told me to leave in front of a church full of people. As Maxxie grabbed my arm and led me out, I heard gasps and saw more than one look of pity, but that was it. No one spoke up; no one told them they were out of line. I sobbed outside the church for an hour and watched the procession of people as they milled out of the church and onto the pub which had been booked for after.

Erin's father, Bob, was an alcoholic, a vile man who sometimes hit her mother, Debbie, and her. Debbie used to be a model, before she slept with Bob, who was married at the time, and fell pregnant with Erin. She was the spitting image of Erin, tall, slim, big green eyes and smooth blonde hair. They both hated me and were often rude to me in public. No one really knew why they loathed me so much but me and Erin did. One night, about a year ago, Debbie had gone to blockbusters and me and Erin had stayed in to prepare the snacks. Bob had come in and was blind drunk; he started shouting at Erin for no reason and then shouted at me. He thrust his face close to mine, so close I could almost taste the whiskey on his breath and screamed at me, called me a bitch; he said I'd led his lovely daughter astray. Then he hit me. The punched me at the side of my face, with enough force to throw me to the floor. Then he started laughing, and jabbing my body with his foot as clasped my burning cheek. The red mist descended and before I could stop myself, I kicked out. The kick landed in his groin and he fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, grabbing his crotch and cursing loudly. That was the last time I was allowed to their house but they couldn't stop Erin coming to mine or she threatened to leave for good and as much as they were shit parents, they loved her.

They came out of the church about an hour later than everyone else, they were probably praying. I got up and walked over to them, Debbie tried to walk away but Bob grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him, sinking his fat fingers into the soft flesh of her arm.

"What do you want, bitch?" he snarled, his face contorted to make him look like a dog with a mop of short curly black hair.

"I want to know why I wasn't allowed to be there." I jerked my head in the direction of the church.

"Because, you and your little bum boy there" he jerked his head at Maxxie, who was still sat on the bench, looking at his hands in his lap "…corrupted my daughter. We didn't want you anywhere near her when she was alive so we didn't want her anywhere near you now she's dead." I felt tears well up in my eyes but when I spoke my voice was smooth and firm.

"Don't you dare call Maxxie a little bum boy. And don't pretend for one minute that we corrupted Erin, we just helped Erin realise you were a shit parent."

Bob raised his hand as if to smack me, but then he saw the vicar coming out of the church and lowered it slowly.

"It's your fault she's dead!" The words of Debbie's scream pierced me and injured every inch of my soul. I don't know why, I thought it was my fault but maybe the fact that someone else had acknowledged this just made it worse. I felt Maxxie behind me. He knew what a mistake this woman had just made.

"It's your fault she's dead, if you would have gotten help quicker." Debbie was crying, tears streaming down he cheeks, her make-up smudged and her hair falling from her bun. I opened my mouth to speak but Maxxie spoke up first. His voice was strained but soft and soothing.

"Debbie, there is no use blaming Luca. Erin broke her neck during the crash, even if Luca had got help in 30 seconds, your daughter would still be dead."

"Yes but if she had prayed, God would have kept my daughter alive. If she'd have gotten help quicker, she could have saved her…" Bobs gaze burned into me.

"No, do you not listen? Erin was already dead when I woke up. The only person I would have saved by getting help quicker is my father. Do you not think that I hate myself every day for not saving them? That I wish it was me instead of Erin, but I can't turn back time and not even prayer can bring them back." And with that said, I walked away leaving the parents of my best friend behind, who were not the only ones wishing I was the one who had died in the crash.

The slither of light caused by my door opening caused me to snap out of my thoughts. My mum popped her face round the door, her pale blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight.

"Can I come in sweetie?" I nodded and she crept over to the bed and nudged me to tell me to move up. I shuffled toward the wall and she sat on the edge, her arm around me.

"You had the dream again?" her tone was inquisitive and she squeezed my shoulder gently.

"Yeah. I just keep seeing it again and again. The crash, the hospital, I can't bear it." I started to cry and she squeezed me harder, making me feel safe and warm. The hot air in the room was so humid; it felt like there was an actual pressure on me. I had decided what I had to do to make these dreams go away, to make them disappear. I readied myself because I knew about the shit storm that was coming.

"I'm going back to school." My mum let me go and stood up; towering over me as she only could do when I was sat down as I was half a foot taller than her.

"No." Her answer was short and defiant, exactly what I'd expected.

"I don't want to, mum…" she cut me off her voice strained.

"Then why go back? Why put yourself through even more pain." I continued for the moment, ignoring her questions, I needed to say this first.

"I need to go back, mum. I'm going stir crazy here. I miss my friends." This caused her to cough and look at me funny. "I miss Maxxie." I corrected myself. "I am way behind in school; it'll take me months to catch up."

"You'll be fine. You were doing so well in school; you have a bit of leniency."

"No, mum, I don't. Dad wouldn't want this; he wouldn't want me to piss my life away. He wouldn't want me to give up on what I want to be, just because he died. I want to do better than that, I'm going back to school and I'm going to work hard and I'm going to get the grades that I've worked so hard to get. I'm not going to give up; I'm going to do it for Dad. To prove that I can" I sighed with relief. I felt like a weight had been lifted, I had felt like this for ages, I just hadn't had the guts to say anything to her.

"Ok, don't listen to my advice then." She got up and began to walk out, leaving me feeling bad for upsetting her. Then she turned round and scrutinized me, her eyebrows raising,

"But, I'm booking you in at the hairdressers. The haircut you gave yourself looks a right mess." And with that she left, shutting the door behind her and thrusting me into darkness again. My hand went to my hair, which I had cut short with my mum's scissors after Erin's funeral. It was two inches at the back, but I left my fringe a bit longer. I had always wanted to cut my hair short, I just never got the courage to do it. I don't know why I cut it, I think I just wanted everything to be different, or maybe I just wanted it to be how it used to be. Not that it would ever be the same again.


	3. Chapter 3

Beautiful Monsters Novel

Chapter Three

My stomach was in knots when I pulled up outside school. My mum had taken the day off work, just in case I needed to come home. I got out, the cold air biting into my skin almost straight away. The wind ruffled my hair up and blew it into my eyes as I lent into the car to get my bag, which I pulled onto my shoulder and shut the door behind me, after saying goodbye to my mum –who was still mad at me. As I began walking up the long path toward the school entrance, crossing the bus turning circle, I couldn't help feeling anxious, a fluttering feeling building in my stomach. Then it hit me why, Erin used to wait on this path for me to get off the bus, and she wouldn't be there. I continued walking, willing my legs to keep moving, my eyes lingering on the spot, which looked so bare and lonely without the cheeky grin she wore when she had some good gossip. I turned my head forward and carried on, until I had passed the spot and realising I'd been holding my breath all this time, I sighed heavily. In a strange way, I was proud of myself; I had not stopped and ran away at the first sign of painful memories.

I continued walking up the path until the school came into view. It looked old and decrepit due to the peeling of the paint and the mass amount of missing tiles on the slanted roof of the reception building. There were 6 blocks: Languages, Expressives, Sport, Science, Maths and Reception. Three of the blocks had been added on in the last ten years and were located to the rear of the school but the rest had been here since before WW2, when there was only a reception, a girl's block and a boys block needed. All the blocks were two floors and were all perfect squares, like a collection a Lego houses. The assembly hall was in the reception so I entered the school through the heavy double doors set into the entrance building. The inside was drab and dreary and the receptionists sat at their desks, tapping their pens as if they had nothing better to do, which they did, they just couldn't be bothered to do it. I walked across the wooden floor, my shoes squeaking and an overwhelming sense of dread washing over me. The doors to the assembly hall were made of a wooden surround with a glass panel in the middle, of which both had been smashed and were held in place by plastic boards on either side to stop people cutting themselves. I pushed them open and stepped into the hall.

The hall was big, with a balcony running around the edge and had fold up seats like there are in the cinema in the stands which took up 2/3rds of the hall, with only the stage and a narrow path round the back to get into other blocks. Year 11's owned the hall in the morning and pretty much the whole year were sat in the comfy seats in groups. I stepped to one side and cast my eyes over the crowd, trying to find one face. Someone at the front gasped and pointed at me, causing the whole group to turn round and stare, I felt really embarrassed and I could feel colour rising in my cheeks and warmth spreading across my face. I was thinking about turning around and waiting outside my form room but an ear piercing scream stopped me.

"Luca!"

I searched the room, trying to find the person the voice had come from when I was nearly knocked over by a warm embrace. A tropical smell reached my nose which was being tickled by a mass of blonde hair and I couldn't help smile. He pushed me away but held me at arms length, studying my face intently, his blue eyes flicking quickly over my features. He smiled and his eyes lit up.

"Yay! You're back." He hopped from foot to foot with excitement and took me in his arms again. I could smell the tropical scent again and my eyes filled with tears although I wouldn't let them escape. He pushed me away again and frowned when he saw how shiny my eyes were.

"What's up?" his brow furrowed and his eyes began searching my face again.

"You smell the same" I smiled and one tear ran down my cheek, splashing on the school waistcoat as I remembered how Erin used to tease Maxxie about how he always smelt of pineapple. We'd found out that it was because his mum used a tropical flavoured fabric softener but Erin loved it, it reminded her of one of her holidays to Hawaii.

Maxxie's tender touch brought me back to the hall and I met his big blue eyes. He ran his hand from my shoulder to my hand, which he held for a second before he turned and led me to where he was sitting. He was sat near the wall with Spencer and Roland, a couple who sometimes hung out with us. Maxxie pushed me down the row they were sat at and I sat down next to Roland, who was sat with his arms behind his head and his legs dangling over the seat in front. He had his eyes closed until I sat down, when he opened them and nodded his head in greeting, his black hair falling into his eyes.

"Hey Luca. How you doing?" Spencer asked, her brown eyes sad.

"I'm doing alright. How's the modelling going?" Spencer's eyes lit up with excitement and I was just glad to get the attention away from me. Spencer was amazingly pretty, with long brown hair that was always glossy and shiny, big brown eyes and full lips which turned up at the side only slightly when she smiled.

"Amazing, actually. I've been to so many castings and most of them have wanted me for the shoots so all is good." She smiled and Roland pretended to snore loudly, causing Spencer to backhand him playfully. Maxxie giggled and I smiled, not feeling comfortable enough to laugh. Roland sat upright and held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, stop hitting me. I have to hear about your modelling all the time."

He smiled which caused Spencer's frown to crumble into a laugh.

"And I have to hear about your band, which sucks by the way." Roland stuck the rod up at Spencer, his bracelets jingling on his wrist. Most of his bracelets were bands from festivals, and he wore rosary beads, wrapped round his wrist about 6 times. For a second, my eyes were transfixed on the cross and the way it glinted in the light and I jumped out of my skin when the bell went. It continued for 30 seconds as if reminding me that I have the whole day ahead of me.

We gathered our stuff and joined the herd of other Year 11's going to our block. It was slow moving and it took us three minutes to do the 30 second walk to the form rooms. Spencer and Roland's form room was before ours so they said goodbye before disappearing into the room. Maxxie's hand left my arm and I turned my head to see where he'd gone.

"I need a wee so I'll meet you in there." He smiled and walked off down the corridor.

I walked into the form room and was met by the stares of pretty much the whole form. I quickened my pace and sat down in our spot at the front of the classroom. I heard whispers and giggles behind me and I put my head in my hands, wishing Maxxie would hurry up in the toilet. My gaze fell to the empty seat next to me and my stomach lurched. I jumped as someone cleared their throat behind me and I looked round to see who it was.

It was a boy towering above me and he was disastrously gorgeous. He had brown hair which was spiked up with gel at the back and swept across his forehead in a slightly curly fringe that touched his eyelashes and moved when he blinked and a round face. He had big, round eyes that were framed with dark lashes and full lips which moved as he spoke and snapped me out of my daydream.

"Your sat in my seat." His voice was smooth and soft and it took a second before my head comprehended what he was saying.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I pushed the seat back with my feet and stood up. When I looked up, I noticed his eyes were hazel, a mix of green, gold and brown with a line of dark brown round the iris. They were depthless, amazing and unbelievably bright, the green and gold flecks in his eyes glittering and gleaming. He had freckles over his nose and cheeks which made him look cheeky and cute. He was taller than me, which was hard because I was over 6 foot and he was slim; his black jeans slung low on his hips and a leather jacket slung over his shoulders. I stepped away from the table and he pushed past me to sit down. I looked down at him but he had put his iPod in as if he was completely unaware that he'd just pushed past me.

I saw Maxxie walk in and I met his gaze, a questioning look written all over his face. He then looked down at the boy and back at me and smiled apologetically, gesturing for me to follow him. He walked to the back of the classroom, past the whole form group who were all looking at me now. Maxxie sat down next to a human shaped form, I say that because the person had their feet up on the desk, and I figured it was a lad based on fact that it was wearing Timberland boots which were two sizes too big and there was a black boy's jacket draped over their head and shoulders. The sound of Maxxie sitting down made a hand emerge from under the jacket and I noticed that he had thick black tribal tattoos on his wrists and he pulled it off his head, revealing another new boy. He had shoulder-length blonde hair, tanned skin and dark brown eyes. His shoulders were quite broad which was accentuated by his school waistcoat, which had safety pins and badges adorning it. At first, he didn't notice me until I sat down, when his eyes widened.

"Hey, I'm Keon." His stuck his hand out for me to shake. When my hand touched his, I couldn't help but notice how warm his hands were and how the skin on them was rough. I nodded my head and smiled warmly.

"Luca. It's nice to meet you. So you're new, right?" A cheeky grin made his face light up.

"Yup, I'm new meat. I've heard a lot about you from Maxxie here." He nudged Maxxie with his elbow and leant across the table slightly. "So you've just got back right?" His eyebrows raised and disappeared behind his fringe.

"Yeah." I smiled again, hoping he changed the subject. He reached across the table further, lightly touching my hand with his.

"It doesn't matter, Maxxie told me what happened. I know you don't want to talk about it" he winked and the sombre look fell from his face, replaced by the cheeky grin. "So what do you do in your spare time?" His gaze fell upon something behind me and I turned my head to see where he was looking. Keon was looking at the new boy, who was still sitting in Erin's seat, exactly where I'd left him. I turned around to face Maxxie, who shrugged and began to explain.

"That's Drewe Kheckhem, he moved here just before the beginning of the year -in early September- with his brother and as you have probably already noticed, he is a total twat." Keon chuckled softly, his shoulders shuddering.

"And that's the understatement of the century" he added, he chuckling, his brown eyes sparkling. Miss Diesel came in and hushed the whole class for the register which took ages. The bell went and we joined the herd of pupils once again to the English block where our first lesson of the day was. Me, Maxxie and Keon were in Mrs Cooke's class for English which was by far the smallest and messiest room in the block.

As I walked in, I couldn't help but notice that the piles of books that covered pretty much every surface in the room had grown. Mrs Cooke's desk was swamped with books so that it looked like a massive pile about three feet high. I sat next to Maxxie in our usual seat and Keon sat in front, with his feet up on the seat next to him so he was sideways and he could talk to us.

"What have I missed?"

"Oh not much, we've been preparing for our exams now we've finished our coursework." Keon said, looking extremely comfy and he sprawled across both chairs.

"Oh, I'm not that far behind then. I can catch up?"

"Yeah, course you can." Maxxie smiled and grabbed my hand, squeezing it.

"Listen up class. I've sorted out a seating chart so we can actually get some work done this year." Mrs Cooke came in, carrying yet more books, her brown hair looking slightly greyer since the last time I'd seen her. She was small and petite, only 5 ft 3 and about a size 8; she had brown hair which she pulled pack in a tight bun which made her cheekbones stick out and made her face look harsh and slightly cruel. She cast an eye over the class, her gaze lingering over me.

"Oh! Your back." Everyone turned to look at me and I could feel someone's gaze burning into my back. I nodded sheepishly and she bowed her head for a second in acknowledgement then she continued putting the bundle in her arms on the pile of books that was her desk and pulling out a sheet of paper.

"Right. Lets begin shall we?" she muttered, more to herself then anyone else as she walked toward the first desk, placing her palm on it and reading the names.

"Keon Oliver and Carrie Caye" Keon groaned and moved. Mrs Cooke went through half of the class when I heard her call my name at a desk at the back. I turned and smiled at Maxxie and moved to the desk where she was pointing. At first I thought I was sitting by myself as she didn't read anyone else's name out but then she pointed to the seat next to me and called 'Drewe Kheckhem'. Some part of me was happy to get to talk to him but the rest of me groaned at having to sit next to him for the rest of the year. I was near the seat when I heard him sigh heavily.

"Do I have to?" he moaned. At this I spun my head round, a shocked look on my face. He met my eyes for a second then looked down at the floor.

"Yes. She's not got a disease, sit." Mrs Cooke replied quickly and pointed to the seat next to me. I sat down, shoving my bag in between my feet and resting my head on my hands. Mrs Cooke carried on calling names out while Drewe plonked himself down in the chair next to me, and sighed heavily. This made me quite angry and I turned to look at him. He was staring at the table while he lay back in his chair, his hands behind his head.

"Would you stop checking me out please?" his voice was again soft and smooth but something behind his voice made me wary.

"Don't flatter yourself" I snapped back, looking back to the front of the class.

"You were so checking me out." He smiled, but it was a cruel smile and it made me want to punch him in the face.

"I think you'll find, I wasn't. I was going to punch you for sighing because you had to sit next to me and I was deciding where." I retorted.

"You liked what you saw?" I looked up at him; he was looking at me, his eyebrows raised.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Not really. Was I supposed to?" I didn't answer; I stared at the front of the class praying for this hour to be up. There was no point asking to be moved, Mrs Cooke wouldn't allow it.

Maxxie handed out the worksheets, we walked round the back of our table, hitting Drewe on the head with the papers 'by accident' and squeezing my hand as he handed me mine. As he walked away, I was aware of Drewe leaning forward.

"That your boyfriend?" he snorted.

"No, he's my best friend."

"Bet your shagging him though." The bluntness of his statement made me gasp slightly which he laughed at.

"No! He's gay."

"Really? No!" he snapped, sarcastically, his hand on his chest and a shocked look slapped on his face.

"There's no need to be a dick." I snapped back, his attitude starting to get on my nerves.

"What if I am just a dick?" he asked, leaning in to me, his face close to mine.

"Something we both agree on." I replied, turning my head away from him.

"Anyways, I heard that Maxxie wasn't your best friend. Thought it was a girl, was it Ellen?"

"Erin, and she _was_ my best friend."

"Oh yeah. I heard about it, it was a car crash, right? Your dad drove off the embankment on the parkway."

"He didn't drive off the embankment, a car hit us."

"Oh I see. Wasn't it your fault she died or something? Cause you took too long getting help." This comment hurt like you wouldn't believe, like he'd stabbed me through the heart. I didn't answer, I couldn't. He looked at me for a moment and then I felt his gaze slip away and I did my work, whilst working my hardest trying to hold in the tears that burned my eyes.


End file.
